Recently I was able to find a copy of Alabama's defensive playbook from 2008. It's a very interesting read if you're interested in taking a look at what Nick Saban tries to do defensively; many of the concepts are identical to what Bill Belichick coaches. It also gives some insight into which responsibilities Dont'a Hightower assumed with the Crimson Tide. Check it out here:

Isn't the first report that has stated Lloyd is looking very sharp so far, while apparently Ocho isn't getting the hang of it still. Idk how these issues continue to plague now with a full year of our system under his belt.

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Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

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Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.

I think Gronk's numbers will go down a bit due to coming off an injury and teams will be making him the main focus point of our offense. Due to this, I would say Hernandez's numbers go up (and hopefully his drops go down).

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.

Trevor Scott is going to be amazing for you guys and you will all laugh at us for having Mark Anderson. Just letting you guys know that, and that I hate you for it.

What makes you think Scott will be so effective? I know he had some impressive pre-draft workouts and was developing well earlier in his career, but he hasn't been able to make any sort of impact for the Raiders lately.

P.S. on an unrelated note, I'm going to be posting some clips of Steve Gregory online soon for anyone who's interested.

Despite being listed as a strong safety (replacing the injured Bob Sanders) Gregory appeared to play a lot of deep zone coverage, with Eric Weddle being used in the slot fairly often. Gregory appears to have strong instincts and is a reliable tackler in the run game who diagnoses quickly and aggressively pursues the ball. The Raiders seemed to be targeting other matchups in the passing game (Antoine Cason saw a lot of targets), while Gregory was the single high safety for the most part. Gregory knocks out Kevin Boss in the end zone on a touchdown throw late in the game. The Chargers also used him on some kick coverage teams, although I didn't include those in the video (nothing really notable there.)

Overall I'd say he looks like a pretty reliable if unspectacular option who has a lot to offer in run support and can assume deep zone responsibilities, although I would have liked to see San Diego play him near the line of scrimmage/in the slot to get a feel for his skills in that regard. I'd be surprised if any of New England's safety options from last year were able to beat him out for a starting role opposite Patrick Chung. Check out the clips of Gregory for yourself and let me know what you think:

The Patriots signed former Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Jamey Richard today. Richard, 27, has made 11 starts over his four seasons in the league (48 appearances.) He is extremely tall for a center (6'5", 295 pounds) but rarely saw the field last year (active for 57 snaps at left guard in week eight and one snap as a tight end in a jumbo package in week nine.) Here are PFF's grades for Richard by season:

The versatility between LG, C, RG, and jumbo TE seems appealing, although unfortunately he seems to have played poorly whenever he saw the field and was subsequently glued to the bench. It looks doubtful he'll make the roster.

What makes you think Scott will be so effective? I know he had some impressive pre-draft workouts and was developing well earlier in his career, but he hasn't been able to make any sort of impact for the Raiders lately.

P.S. on an unrelated note, I'm going to be posting some clips of Steve Gregory online soon for anyone who's interested.

To be fair he did tear his ACL late in the 2010 season and it affected his play last season.

To be fair he did tear his ACL late in the 2010 season and it affected his play last season.

I'm not saying he has no chance to make the roster but according to Pro Football Focus he rushed the passer on 156 of his 251 snaps and ended up with no sacks, no hits, and five pressures. I didn't really look out for him when I was making that Steve Gregory clip because he only played six snaps against the Chargers.

I just got done watching Jonathan Fanene play against St. Louis last year in order to write a little summary of the signing for NEPatriotsDraft (hopefully the Steve Gregory writeup will be up soon), but here are the clips of Fanene against the Rams in case anyone's interested:

On another note, I understand Razor's surprise that Markell Carter was released, at least that he was released this early in the offseason. Carter always seemed like an interesting developmental pass rusher.